Amnesty urges Fonterra to condemn executions

File photo / Dean Purcell

Amnesty International is calling on Fonterra and the New Zealand Government to condemn the executions of two people involved in the San Lu tainted milk powder scandal.

Six children died and nearly 300,000 children fell ill last year after drinking milk intentionally laced with melamine.

Fonterra farmers held a 43 per cent stake in Sanlu, though they have since written off their $201 million investment in the now-bankrupt Chinese company.

Fonterra today described the milk contamination scandal as "a terrible tragedy".

The company would not comment on the executions, saying they were a matter for the Chinese authorities but said the two men who were executed did not work for Sanlu.

However, Amnesty New Zealand said Fonterra should take a stand against the executions.

Spokesperson Margaret Taylor said: "As a New Zealand company operating in China, Fonterra has an obligation to uphold the values of New Zealand through the way it conducts itself.

"Not only must it speak out against the executions, following a scandal it was so closely associated with, but it must also use its ongoing engagement with China to work on improving human rights and particularly labour rights."

Ms Taylor said it was important the New Zealand Government also raised its concerns about the executions with Chinese officials.

A total of 21 Sanlu executives and middlemen were tried and sentenced in January by a court in the northern city of Shijiazhuang for their involvement in the contamination case.

Sanlu's former general manager, Tian Wenhua, received a life jail sentence after pleading guilty late last year to charges that did not carry the death sentence.

Three other former Sanlu executives were given between five years and 15 years in prison.

The official Xinhua news agency, citing a court statement, said Geng Jinping and Zhang Yujun were executed yesterday.

Geng Jinping was convicted of producing and selling toxic food, after selling more than 900 tonnes of tainted milk, and cattle farmer Zhang Yujun was executed "for the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means" - he produced more than 770 tonnes of melamine-laced protein powder, of which he sold more than 600 tonnes, between July 2007 and August 2008.

Sanlu officials were aware of the melamine problem by early August 2008 but the public was not warned until mid-September as China strove to put on a perfect face for the Beijing Olympics.

Fonterra had three directors on the Sanlu board - Bob Major, Mark Wilson and a Chinese national, Patrick Kwok - and said it pushed for a full public recall of contaminated product from August 2 when it learned of the contamination.

Melamine, which can cause kidney stones, is meant to be used in making plastics, fertilisers and even concrete. Its high nitrogen content allows protein levels to appear higher when it is added to milk or animal feed.

- NZPA